11:9
Before Patti moved two steps, Kim flung herself forward and shoved an arm in front of Patti, nearly clotheslining her. Patti turned to glower at Kim. “What?”
“That’s not–” Kim stopped, frowned at the surface of the bridge, then continued, “stone. Or anything from the earth. Or anything at all.”
Dan walked up beside Kim and eyed the bridge. “You sure?”
Kim nodded. Abe walked up beside Dan and also stared at the bridge. They turned to Dan after a mikro, “Do you see?”
“I think so.”
Patti craned her neck to look at the surface at the angle Abe and Dan did. “See what?”
“Words.”
“Ink.”
Abe and Dan’s answers overlapped. They turned to each other and Abe grinned. Then they turned to look at Patti. “It’s an illusion. Or something similar. Ink was added in layers.”
“One layer defines an abyss,” Dan expanded, “The one over it says bridge.”
“Okay.” Patti scratched her chin. “So can you put another layer over it that makes the bridge real or something?”
Abe looked at Dan. Dan looked at Abe. Then Abe looked at Patti and shrugged. “Maybe? I’ve never done anything like that before. But every day is an opportunity to learn something new!” They looked at Dan again. “Want to try?”
Dan laced his fingers then turned them outwards as he stretched his arms forward. Then he released his fingers and pulled a book from his vest. Abe held their right hand out and ink unfurled from it, flowing out over the surface of the bridge-not-bridge. After several mikros it disappeared into the surface. Dan riffled through his book before settling on a page. He ran his finger over it while speaking almost beneath his breath. When his finger hit the bottom of the page he looked at the bridge.
He looked at Abe. Abe looked at Dan. Then shrugged before holding their foot out and tapping their toe against the surface. Luckily it wasn’t a hearty tap as the toe went right through. Abe’s lips moved on a silent curse then they looked at Dan.
“Maybe under instead of over? Change the underlying structure so it reads solid, abyss, bridge?”
Dan switched his toothpick left to right then flipped through his book before coming to a stop on another page. Again he muttered. Again Abe released ink from their arm to seep through the surface of the bridge.
When Dan finished this time he was the one to test the surface with a toe. Instead of going through it made a soft thunk. He stepped his entire foot forward then down onto the surface with the slow deliberateness that Dempsey had come to understand was Dan’s standard. It held.
Dan closed his book and put it back in his vest pocket. Abe made a twisting motion with their hand and ink spooled back from the bridge and onto their arm. Then, after shooting a look over their shoulder Abe walked out onto the bridge.
When Dan grunted Abe turned to look at him. “I’m lighter. You can catch me easier.”
Another grunt, this one sounding like assent. Maybe.
Holding their hands out at their sides Abe took one step. Then another. Then another. Once they were about the length of their body from where Dan stood they turned and gave the group a grin.
“I think we can cross now.”
Patti started taking a step onto the bridge then Abe pinwheeled their arms and let out an ‘eep!’ while shuffling their feet back in the direction of the group. When Patti started lunging towards them, arms out, they planted their feet and laughed. Realizing Abe had been messing with her, Patti lifted a fist and shook it at them to which they grinned.
“Not funny,” Patti said as she moved up to stand next to Abe.
“Kind of funny.”
When Patti didn’t immediately agree, Abe dug their elbow into Patti’s side. She batted her hand at them then blew an exasperated breath that lifted her bangs.
“Fine. A little funny.” She pinched a space between forefinger and thumb. “A very little funny.”
Sass, on Patti’s shoulder, held their hands a short distance apart and squeaked. Abe grinned at the mouse then waggled their brows at Patti who resolutely set her gaze forward. From his angle to the side of the start of the bridge Dempsey could just see the corner of her mouth quirk on a small smile.
Once Patti and Abe were far enough along the bridge to confirm it would hold the remainder of the group filed on in pairs with Ivan and Prairie first and Dempsey bringing up the back on his own.
“So,” Gwen murmured to Siobhan where she walked in front of Dempsey. “Do you think ARFA is trying to help us or kill us?”
Dempsey reflected back on the flower rotting and disappearing to dust and wondered what the answer was.
“Help,” Siobhan said then after a mikro she added, “I’m pretty sure help.”
Maybe. And yet the image of that flower lingered in Dempsey’s mind.
The bridge terminated at another wall covered in vines and roses. And thorns. But in this wall a wooden double door stood out stark within the vines, taking up the majority of the landing they stood upon. Only a single vine draped over the top where it met the wall.
Siobhan said “excuse me, excuse me,” as she shimmied past Kim, Dan, Prairie, and Ivan before coming to stop behind Patti and Abe where they stood in front of the door. She rose on tiptoe to reach over Patti’s shoulder and ran a gentle hand along the bottom of the vine. Dempsey almost cautioned about the thorns, but he didn’t need to waste the breath as the vine delicately shimmied then drew up and tucked itself into the curtain of living green above the door.
She was definitely getting better with her Magick. Come to think of it he was pretty sure Kim was too and definitely Prairie seemed to be testing the boundaries of what her Magick could do. Dempsey didn’t think he was. At all. But he wasn’t sure what an extension of his Magick would look like. Well, maybe that thing he did finding the room number at Lady Mary’s?
Before he could dwell longer on this, Siobhan leaned around Patti and pushed the door open. Beyond it was darkness which didn’t exactly beckon them on but they were there and when had a lack of beckoning stopped this group?
“After you.” Siobhan waved towards the open door.
Abe nodded and then stepped over the threshold. A quiet ‘eep’ came out a mikro later. After Abe’s joshing with Patti using that exact sound it could have been more fooling around or it could be an actual issue. Better safe than less one Abe.
“Let’s move,” Dempsey urged as he strapped his shield back on his arm. Patti hefted her shield and pushed in, Ivan falling in just slightly to her rear. Prairie palmed her double daggers, cast a quick glance back at the rest of the group then stepped into the dark doorway. Siobhan, Kim, Dan, and Gwen rushed in after her and then Dempsey closed the distance to enter behind them.
#
Patti came up so hard against Abe it rattled her teeth. Sass dug claws into Patti’s jacket to retain their place on Patti’s shoulder and Abe gave out a hard “woof!’ when Patti’s punch shield rammed into their ass. It took a moment for Patti to gain her feet and then quickly scan the space for threats.
It appeared to be a ballroom. Marble floors. Big columns holding up the vaulted ceiling. Patti was no interior designer or architecture-type so that was the best she had. Big. Big space. Big columns.
The space was so big that there was a line of columns marching down the center of the space, compliment to the row of columns on either side standing a short distance from the walls which were shadowed by distance to Patti and also the columns which blocked the light from the series of chandeliers interspersed down the length of the center of the high ceiling. There was a lot of candles on each one, casting pools of light upon the dance floor.
On the edge of that floor closest to the doors they’d entered tables were set up, each with four chairs. And on these chairs were people. People slumped forward, heads on the table. There had to be eight tables directly in front of where their group had come to an abrupt halt.
In front of this grouping was an additional row, making the table count sixteen and – Patti did the quick math – the people count sixty-four. Maybe.
She craned her head to look around Abe so she could see the second row of tables. Yep. Totally full. Of what looked like sleeping people. Which made sense because Sleeping Beauty.
Very, very low, low enough she wasn’t sure she was hearing with her ears or her Magick, a tune played. Not quite a lullaby though she wondered if it had a similar effect. Before she could explore the thought further Siobhan asked, “Anyone have an argument to wake the people?”
Patti turned at Siobhan’s question, the thread of her question drifting away like the subtle hint of song.
Dan eyed the tables of sleepers, his gaze assessing, then looked at Siobhan. “No.”
“Nope!” Gwen responded.
“Let sleeping people lie,” Dempsey said.
Siobhan clapped her hands together then winced and looked at the tables of people. They hadn’t moved at the sound of their voices and they didn’t move at the louder clap of her hands. With a chagrined look, she turned her attention back to the group. “So, what options do we have?”
Ivan craned his neck to look down the length of the ballroom. “Seems like we have the option of forward or back. And back doesn’t net us Bria. So I guess its forward?”
Siobhan nodded. “Makes sense.”
Dempsey raised a finger. “Forward how?”
Gwen made walking movements with two fingers. “You know, forward.”
“Mhm. Just random?”
“It’s worked for us before. Why change now?” She shrugged. “Something happens we react.”
“True.” Dempsey adjusted the strap of his messenger bag then hefted his shield, holding it loosely in front of him. Then he walked down the small aisle running between the tables of sleepers and approached the dance floor. Again there was no movement from the sleepers.
Following the thought in her head she walked over to the nearest table and leaned forward so she could look at the nearest person, a woman with an updo knocked askew by the awkward position of her face on the table with her cheek pressed to a plate. The woman’s hand lay on top of a fork and knife which luckily seemed to not be pressing into her skin. Small blessings.
Careful not to contact the woman and potentially awaken her, Patti slid her hand forward, knuckles towards the woman’s face. The barest whisper of breath brushed her skin, confirming the woman was breathing. Whew!
Pulling her hand back she stepped away from the table and almost bumped into Prairie who’d come up beside her without her realizing it.
“Breathing,” she said to the smaller woman who nodded.
“I checked a man at another table. He was breathing too.”
“You didn’t touch him?”
Prairie lifted her brows slightly. “Of course I didn’t.”
“Of course.”
Prairie grinned at Patti’s dry reply.
“I peeked into Spiritus. He wasn’t in a coma. Just asleep. Deep enough that he had a dome. It will protect him.” Prairie swept her gaze over the sleeping people. “Them.”
“Well, that’s something.”
Prairie shrugged then looked to where Dempsey was standing, turned back and staring at them. “Coming?”
Patti refrained from responding ‘not even breathing hard’. It was a struggle.
Patti and Prairie headed towards Dempsey. Abe waved a hand towards the left wall. “I’ll check that wall.”
“I’ll take the right,” Dan responded.
Siobhan hitched up her bag and then headed towards Abe. “Never go alone.”
Abe smiled and jerked their head towards the wall. “Happy for the help.”
“I’ve got Dan,” Ivan said and headed towards the right.
Kim and Gwen wandered over to stand behind Dempsey, Patti, and Prairie where they bunched where the carpet beneath the chairs met the edge of the marble dance floor. Dempsey swept their group with a look. “Ready?”
Patti nodded. “Yep.”
She felt more than heard Kim turn so she could look at the tables to their back. Then Gwen did the same to the other side of the aisle. When Patti turned to look at them Kim said, “Just in case.”
“Okay.” That said Patti turned her attention to Dempsey. “What you waiting for?”
Dempsey shook his head then lifted his shield and stepped onto the dance floor. Almost to Patti’s disappointment not a thing happened except the heel of his boot thunking on the stone. Still he darted a glance left and right, then shot a quick one over his shoulder to track Gwen and Kim.
They must have indicated no movement from the people at the tables because Dempsey turned back and started heading across the dance floor. The chandeliers high above cast their light down on his head, causing a long shadow to form. First in front of him, then behind, as he continued to stride across the floor.
The only sound was the strike of their boots on the floor. It was eerie. Like they were the only people in the area. Enough so Patti shot a glance to the left to make sure Abe and Siobhan were still there. She could just make out Siobhan’s flower crown within the shadow’s shrouding the area near the wall.
“Anything?” She pitched her voice to carry in that direction. It didn’t quite echo, but there was an amplification to the space that made it seem to grow in volume as it carried across the distance.
Siobhan poked her head out from the line of columns and instantly the chandelier’s light settled on the top of her head and her flower crown, casting her features in shadow. “The walls are covered in vines and roses. I’m trying to read beneath them but its slow going.”
Patti turned her head and threw a question to the right. “Dan? Ivan? Anything?”
“Lots of flowers!” Ivan’s voice called back. “Dan is using Magick to try to find stone underneath. If there’s a break it would be a door or opening. Mostly I’m just poking my sword in from spot to spot.”
Up ahead in what was probably the center of the dance floor a rotunda resolved, its domed ceiling held aloft on a series of eight wide columns matching the others in the space. Within this rotunda was a raised platform and upon this platform was a cluster of chairs. As they drew nearer Patti could see instruments abandoned, leaning against or sitting on the chairs.
It was a testament to how big the space was, wide and long, that the platform and the eight large columns didn’t fill more than one third of the width of the dance floor.
A quick look around showed no musicians. Maybe they were asleep at the tables too?
Again the slightest tease of music played through Patti’s consciousness. Perhaps it was the sight of the instruments that brought it into focus in her mind.
“Anyone hear that?”
“Hear what?” Gwen asked.
“I’m not sure. Music? A song?”
Sass peeped and tilted their head then shook it. Well, maybe Patti was imagining it. Could be her mind adding sound because the place was so weirdly without it.
Dempsey walked up to the platform, rested his foot on the edge, then stepped up on to it. He turned to look at Patti and the others. “I don’t think we’re going to find an opening in the floor. Or the ceiling. Doesn’t really make sense to keep walking the floor. Anyone want to join the others searching the walls?”
Patti hadn’t even looked to the side to consider when Gwen plopped down to sit on the edge of the platform. She leaned back into her hands and looked up at the ceiling. “I volunteer to watch if anything happens above us.”
Dempsey lifted his brows. “Very noble of you.”
“I am very noble.”
Prairie sat down next to Gwen and peered over to the right where Dan and Ivan continued to search. “Ivan?” She lifted her voice to carry in that direction.
“Yes, Prairie?”
“Do you need help?”
“Not sure it would help. Just stabbing the wall over here.”
“I could help stab?”
“That’s okay. If I get tired I’ll ask you to switch.” It was clear by his tone he wasn’t going to get tired.
Kim took a seat facing the left wall and crossed her legs at the ankles. “I could burn it all,” she pitched in that direction.
By Siobhan’s immediate response it seemed to carry fine. “No!”
Gwen shook her head in sad resignation. “Regan was right to call you an arsonist.”
“You start one little trash fire and suddenly you’re an arsonist.”
Gwen lifted her hand and shook them towards the ceiling while intoning in a voice that would best be described as villainous, “Burn it All!”
Kim rolled her eyes. “When you say it like that it sounds crazy.”
Gwen flicked a finger at Kim who grinned and shook her head. “I prefer to call it creative problem solving.”
“With fire,” Prairie added.
“I have a skillset. Watch me use it.”
“Arsonist,” Dempsey muttered under his breath then moved to stand at the back of the platform facing the far end of the room, legs braced and shield held loosely in front of himself.
“Dan?” Ivan’s voice rang out, loud in the space. “Dan!”
There was a loud thump from the right wall. Then another. Which because of the weird emptiness of the air carried really well.
Almost as one everyone on the platform, Patti included surged in that direction. They covered the space separating the center of the room and the wall hidden behind the column’s shadow at a run, making it to the wall really fast. Fast enough to see someone stooping over Dan and Ivan’s fallen forms.
“Ivan!” Prairie cried out and ran for him, only to come to a skidding halt as the figure rose and slowly started shuffling towards her. There was something uniquely wrong about the way the figure moved. Patti couldn’t put her finger on exactly what but something wasn’t right there.
She snatched the back of Prairie’s jacket and yanked her back to the lighted dance floor. The figure shambled after her. The light from the chandelier fell on their features, revealing a woman with her eyes closed and her mouth slack.
As she advanced a snore rattled her throat and her head jerked to the side. Her arms hung at her sides. Her shoulders slumped forward. And her feet shuffled so she stumbled as she advanced.
Dempsey immediately stepped in front of Prairie, just in time for the woman to walk right into his shield. Right into his shield. With a thump. That should have hurt but the woman made no sound to indicate it did. And she didn’t stop shuffling her feet, so she ended up walking in place as Dempsey held the line with his shield.
Gwen sidled up and peered over the edge of Dempsey’s shield. “I think she’s asleep.”
“Do you see any others?” Prairie asked. Kim stepped to the side and forward, breaking the line of shadow formed by the column. She raised a hand with a flame in her palm and cast it back and forth, illuminating the space between the column and the wall.
“No.”
“Okay.” That said Prairie darted around Kim and headed for Ivan. She dropped to her knees and ran a hand over his neck.
Gwen continued to stare at the woman, the sleeping woman, who continued to shuffle against Dempsey’s shield. “Dempsey?”
“Yeah.”
“Should we do something about her?”
“I guess. What?”
“Uh, hit her?”
“Feels like shooting fish in a barrel.”
“She’s not stopping.”
“She’s not hurting us either.”
“She did something to Ivan. And Dan.”
“Okay. You hit her.”
“I don’t want to. It feels like shooting fish in a barrel.”
“What I said.”
Patti heaved a sigh. That was going absolutely nowhere. She hefted her shield and stepped around Dempsey’s shield. The woman continued to shuffle forward, showing no signs of noticing Patti’s approach.
Patti lifted her cudgel but hesitated to pop the lady in the head. It did feel a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. The woman lifted her hands and began to feebly paw at Dempsey’s shield. Awww. Like a puppy. Then she started to gnaw on the edge of the shield. Still like a puppy but, yeah, it was enough that Patti decided to give her a little love tap up side the noggin.
Her cudgel impacted the woman’s head with a thud. The vic—uh, woman, didn’t make a sound but she did stop gnawing on the shield, went boneless, and slumped to the floor. Dempsey lowered his shield and peered at the woman then shifted to Patti. “Thanks.”
“Felt like punching a baby.”
“Yeah,” he drew out the word.
Gwen darted around Dempsey and headed into the shadowy area near the wall. She dropped down next to Dan and laid a hand on his chest. After a moment she looked over to Prairie who was shaking Ivan’s shoulder vigorously.
“Prairie? I don’t feel any damage. I think he’s asleep?”
“Oh, Ivan is definitely asleep. I’m trying to wake him up.”
“Oh, okay. Let me just–” Gwen’s face relaxed and a very small smile lifted her lips. A mikro later Dan jolted up and looked around wildly. His gaze landed on Gwen who popped back to her heels and gave his chest a pat. “All better.”
She duck-walked over to Ivan and did the same to him. He snapped awake in a similar manner to Dan.
“Do you know what happened?” Gwen asked him once he settled his gaze on her.
“No clue. I looked over and Dan was on the ground. I went to check him and then nothing.”
Patti looked down at the sleeping, kind of unconscious woman at her feet. What were the chances.
“You didn’t see anyone moving near him?” She pitched to carry to Ivan.
“I don’t think so.”
“Huh.”
“Abe!” Siobhan’s voice carried from across the ballroom.
Instinctively Patti pivoted in that direction and yelled, “Siobhan! Run!”
There was a distinctive eep and then Siobhan came flying out of the shadows on the far left, skirt in one hand, flower crown clasped to her head with the other. From behind her a man shambled. They moved in a very similar way to the woman Patti clocked upside the head. She didn’t need to be close to conclude they were in a similar state.
“Dodge!” She took off across the dance floor, hollering as she went.
Skidding to a stop she threw her shield up in time for the man to smack right into it. Being a punch shield it had nowhere near the surface of Dempsey’s shield, so she was introduced up real close to the sleeping features of the man smacking repeatedly into it.
Running behind Patti, Siobhan dropped her hand from her head and peered over Patti’s shoulder to look at the man. “Is he asleep?”
“Yep.”
“I’m going to check Abe. Looks like you’ve got this.”
“I mean, yeah. Okay. I’ve got this.”
Patti leaned forward to put more force behind her block as the man continued to push into her shield. Unlike the lady she’d hit this guy had some heft so even though he was just sleep-shuffling he had some force behind his movements. She cast a look back to where Dempsey and Kim still stood near the right side of the room.
“A little help here?”
Kim looked over. “Looks like you’ve got it.”
“Screw you. Come over here and do something.”
“Fine.”
Kim walked, Patti might say sauntered or even meandered, across the floor then reached forward and punched the guy in the face. The guy cascaded to the floor. So did Kim.
Patti looked at the guy, looked at Kim, looked over at Dempsey. “Uh, more help over here?”
Dempsey shifted from looking where Ivan, Dan, Prairie, and Gwen were speaking to looking over at Patti. Even across the space, which was considerable, she could see his look of shock. Then he was striding over to stand next to her and stare down at Kim lying on the floor, eyes closed and mouth slightly open. While they watched she drew a raggedy breath and wriggled around then made a muffled snuffle noise.
“Uh,” Dempsey looked dumbfounded.
“Yeah.”
“Patti?” Siobhan called from the shadowy corridor beyond the column to the left.
“Yeah?”
“Abe’s asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“And.”
“Wake them up? I dunno.”
“Just wake them up?”
“Yeah.” Patti shrugged. “Wake them up.”
“Oooookay,” Siobhan dragged out the word and then could heard calling, “Abe? Abe!”
Patti looked down at Kim who at that moment rolled over on her side and curled her knees up towards her hips. Then she looked at Dempsey. “You wanna call Gwen over or just kick her?”
Dempsey took a bit long to answer. He eyed Kim. Looked at his toe. Then gave a small sigh and yelled, “Gwen?”
“What?”
“Need you.”
“Everyone does. I’m very needable.”
“Ugh!” Patti raised her voice to holler, “Need you to Magick Mojo Kim. She’s asleep.”
“How?” Even as Gwen asked this she was heading over full steam, arms pumping at her sides and her gaze locked on Kim’s form on the floor.
“Punched a guy.”
“Punched a guy?”
Patti shrugged. “I don’t make the news. I just report it.”
Gwen dropped to her knees and placed one hand on Kim’s chest and the other on her back vaguely in a similar region.
An “ahhh!” from the right side where Prairie, Dan, and Ivan still lingered drew Patti’s attention from what Gwen was doing. Dempsey stiffened like a pointer on the scent then slanted Patti a look.
“Go.” Patti stepped closer to Kim and Gwen and lifted her shield. “I’ve got this.”
Dempsey jerked a nod and took off at speed in the direction of the yell.
“Shield!” Patti heard Prairie yell and then there was a thunk that carried across the still freakishly quiet ballroom. A moment later another thunk came and Patti heard Ivan say, “Thanks.”
Dan and Prairie ran out onto the dance floor, followed closely by Dempsey and Ivan. They all locked gazes on where Kim was sitting up with a curse while wildly looking around herself.
“The fuck?”
Patti shifted her cudgel to her shield hand and offered the free one to Kim. She yanked the other woman up to her feet then stepped back.
“Adequate response.”
“Abe!” There was the sound of skin impacting skin from the left side. Gwen looked over then up at Patti.
“You’re needed.”
“Okay.” Gwen stood up, dusted her hands on her legs, then hurried over to the shadows on the left side of the room.
“What happened?” Ivan locked his eyes on Kim.
“Not sure. I punched the guy who was attacking Patti and then nothing.”
“She punched the guy who was attacking me,” Patti said, words almost overlapping Kim’s, “then fell asleep.”
Ivan, Dan, and Prairie gave Patti incredulous looks. She shrugged. “Again I report the news. That’s how I saw it. Punch. Asleep.”
Prairie spared a glance for the man Kim had punched. “We should move the gentleman. And the lady.”
Ivan nodded and walked over to the fallen man. He squatted down and slid his arm under the man’s knees and promptly toppled forward, landing face down on the guy’s legs.
Prairie’s eyes widened. She darted a look between Ivan’s fallen form and Patti. Patti widened her own eyes, like that was going to convey the ‘what the actual fuck’ she was feeling. Then Prairie bit her lip and looked to Dempsey.
“Please help me roll Ivan off the man. And do not touch him.”
“How am I supposed to move Ivan if I can’t touch him?”
Prairie shook her head. “I think you can touch Ivan. Do not touch the man.”
“Okay.” Dempsey stooped to place his shield on the floor then went over to grab Ivan’s legs. He pulled him back, dragging him over the sleeping man beneath him and then further so he was well clear of the man’s body. Only then did he carefully roll Ivan to his side and then his back.
Prairie kneeled down and checked Ivan’s face. There was a slight redness where his chin had likely clipped the floor. She frowned and smoothed a hand over it and then over his cheek before rocking back on her heels. “Gwen’s method of waking people seems the most efficient. I hate to try to rouse him by hitting him or shaking him, though I do wonder if that would work.”
Patti shrugged and dropped to her knees near Ivan. “Nothing says we can’t try.” When Prairie made a noise of protest she added, “Not the hitting but shaking can’t hurt anything. Or not much.”
“Uh, guys?” Siobhan’s voice drew Patti’s attention from Ivan’s body. “Help?”
Dempsey ran, grabbed his shield, and headed towards the left. He disappeared into the shadows and a moment later there was a thunk and then a thud and then another moment and Abe, Gwen, and Siobhan, followed by Dempsey, were fleeing to the center of the floor and the rest of the group.
“Sleeper?” Patti shot at Dempsey.
“Sleeper.” He nodded. “Knocked them out with my shield.”
“Effective.”
“Very.” Dempsey turned to Gwen, indicating Ivan with a jerk of his chin. “Gwen? Can you?”
“I can!” Gwen shifted over next to Ivan, leaned down, and pressed her hand to his chest. A mikro or three later he jerked up and looked around with wide eyes.
“Again?”
Prairie nodded and bit her lip. “Again.”
“The price of doing the right thing,” Kim said with a smirk.
Ivan scrambled to his feet and then looked over at the man he’d tried to move. “So. Yeah. Touching them seems to be bad.”
Kim snorted. “You think?”
“I do.”
“Any luck finding an exit to this place?”
Ivan shook his head. She turned and looked at Siobhan who said, “It’s very slow going but Abe and I made it about halfway down the wall with no luck.”
Movement in her peripheral grabbed Patti’s attention. She spun in that direction and her eyes went wide.
“Guys?”
“So we go back to looking?”
“I guess.”
“Guys!” Patti sang the word, putting a bit of Magick in it. Overkill? Maybe. But it got everyone to turn in the direction she was looking, watching every single person at every single table, all sixty-four if she remembered her math though maybe it was sixty-one now as there were three unconscious sleepwalkers on the floor right now, and she digressed. Let’s go with a whole butt-ton of people rising from chairs which fell onto the floor behind them.
They all, all sixty-one or more of them, turned and started walking slowly across the floor toward Patti’s group.
“Well, that’s not good,” Kim muttered.
Gwen amplified the statement. “Really not good!”
“Super really not good!” Most everyone turned their attention from the approaching sleepwalkers to stare at Abe who blushed hard. “What? It is.”
Dan shifted on his feet even as he reached for a book in one of his vest pockets. “As my young friend said this is super really not good. Options?”
“We have to find the way through,” Prairie said.
“It’s taking too long,” Ivan noted. “How we are doing it is too slow. And no guarantee it will work.”
“If only we had someone who could Magickally Find things,” Gwen said shooting Dempsey a significant look before redirecting her attention to the very slowly approaching shuffling mass.
“Not how it works.”
“You mean like finding a room number in a log? Or a map in a drawer?”
“Huh.”
“Get to finding!” Gwen turned fully to the approaching horde and lofted her plunger. “And give me your shield. If we can’t touch people with our skin and we don’t want to hurt them with weapons,” she turned and looked quickly at the others, “I’m guessing we don’t want to hurt them,” after the others indicated with nods and serious looks that she was right, she continued, “so we need to block them from touching us. Or us touching them. The shields are working. So hand yours over.”
Dempsey eyed the hand she held out. “Its heavy.”
“I’m strong.”
“Are you?”
“Just give!”
Dempsey rolled his eyes then shoved the shield towards Gwen. She grabbed the edge of it. When he let go this inadequate grip sent her tilting to the side and the edge of the shield hit the marble floor with a thunk.
“Here.” Siobhan stepped up and put her hand on the other side of the edge of the shield. “We’ll do it together.”
And together they did manage to heft the shield up, holding it in front of both their bodies. Siobhan turned and looked at Dempsey. “Go. Find.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She gave him a stern look which drew a smile from the big man. Then he turned and ran towards the right wall. Siobhan followed him with her gaze until he disappeared into the shadows.
“All right. We can try to draw them away. Or we can protect Dempsey.”
“Or we could do both,” Ivan said as he snapped his shield into shape. He did a quick visual of the group. “Patti , you’ve got a shield. You want protection or distraction?”
Patti checked the strap of her shield then nodded. “I’ll distract.”
“Gwen and Siobhan go and cover Dempsey. The shield will help but neither of you is going to do more than use it like a door.” Siobhan lifted her brows but didn’t dispute this. “Plus if Dempsey finds something under the roses Siobhan you can move them.”
“True.”
Ivan cast a quick glance down to where the shuffling masses were still doing their slow advance then looked back at the group. “Abe with Dan and me. Prairie with–”
“Distraction.”
“So me. We need someone else who can shield.”
Kim lifted a finger. “Air can shield. I’ll go with the search team.”
“Good.” Ivan slapped his hand against his arm, probably because he couldn’t clap with the shield extended. “Break!”
“Yes, Coach!” Gwen chanted then looked at Siobhan. “C’mon, Shield Buddy.”
Kim sauntered over to them and wiggled her fingers in the direction of the shield. Instantly it lifted slightly higher. She waggled her eyebrows and jerked her head in the direction Dempsey had run. “We’ve got the team back together!”
Gwen pumped the arm she held her plunger in. “Let’s bash some heads!”
“Let’s protect Dempsey,” Siobhan corrected with a soft smile.
“By bashing some heads!”
The three friends headed off, the shield between them. Ivan turned to Patti and nodded. “How do we distract them?”
“Uh, let’s try this.” Patti shifted her cudgel to her shield arm, lifted her hand to her lips, and let out a shrill whistle while side shuffling towards the wall Ivan and Dan had been searching. She wove her Magick into the note and sent it flying towards the slowly approaching sleepwalkers. They slowly turned. Slowly started walking towards the right.
“That works.” Abe bounced on their feet then shook out their hands while focusing on the sleepwalkers. “So, no hurting them. I understand that. It feels wrong when they aren’t, like, hitting us or anything.”
“Yet,” Patti offered. “But, yeah, it feels wrong to whack them.”
Ivan looked to Abe. “Can you shield with your ink?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, then we’re pretty good. Let’s keep drawing them away from Dempsey’s group then we can find a place we can hold with my shield and Patti’s shield and Abe’s ink. Don’t let them touch you. We’re going to be pressed with three shield options.”
“What about me?” Prairie asked.
Ivan looked down at her. The line of his mouth softened for a moment. “Stay safe.”
Prairie’s bottom lip jutted but then she nodded. Dan shifted next to her. “You and I can be damsels together.”
“You could probably shield with your Magick.”
“I could but we don’t know what we’ll face later. Better to keep something in reserve.”
“I like that better than being useless.”
Ivan stopped his shuffling towards the wall to look at Prairie. “I didn’t say you were useless.”
“You didn’t. I still felt it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Incoming!” Abe called, breaking the moment. Everyone focused back on the sleepwalkers who had somehow managed to amble quite a distance in a short time.
Enter The Woods 